Wang Yihan

Wang Yihan, born on 18 January 1988, is a retired Chinese professional badminton player, a former women's singles world champion and Olympic silver medalist. She started her career at nine years of age under coach Wang Pengren, was selected for the junior team in 2004 and was promoted to the senior team in 2006. That year she won the Badminton World Cup, beating Olympic champion Zhang Ning in the semi-final and two-time world champion Xie Xingfang in the final. She missed the 2008 Olympics because more senior teammates had already qualified. In 2009 she won the German Open and the All England Championships and by October of that year she was the top ranked women's singles player in the world.